Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

E46 (1999 - 2006) The fourth generation 3 Series (E46 chassis) was introduced in 1999 and set the standard for engineering and performance during it's years of production including being named to Car & Driver's 10 best list every one of those years! ! -- View the E46 Wiki

Pagid if you want OEM stopping power, and Akebono if you want less and lighter colored dust, with less initial bite. I like the OEM pads because of the feel. Washing wheels twice a week during the summer is the only downside. Remember, sometimes accidents are avoided by inches, and with OEM pads I can lock em up at 60 with no problem. If you track the car, ceramic might be the better option.

Have exactly what you have and got 'em from Turner.
Love them for 50K miles so far.
Stop from cold like you were committing murder.
Leave wheels much cleaner than BMW pads.

Here's the review I wrote about them five years ago when I installed them:

Axxis MM brake pads
Recently the question of these pads and cold stops came up and so I decided when I was out testing my Koniís that my pads had been completely broken in, enough to not have to baby them any longer.
A few times at about sixty mph, I gave the brakes just short of full panic stop pressure. I had never used them that severely before, and was astounded what g force this car is capable of with the large rotors, large soft tire patch, and quality pads. The first stop was completely cold and solidly as safe as you would ever need. Iím used to considering my e46 as a thing of beauty, but this stopping power is brutal.

I have them as well, although I disagree with GoForthFast regarding the cold stopping torque. I find there's a second to two before there's enough heat generated to get them to START to bite hard - this is the case with all semi metallic pads as well as with full on ceramic. You're trading the initial bite of the organic OEM pads for less brake dust and more fade resistance under repeated hard breaking maneuvers. It'll be enough to get you to pucker up during an emergency stop first thing in the morning.

Pagid if you want OEM stopping power, and Akebono if you want less and lighter colored dust, with less initial bite. I like the OEM pads because of the feel. Washing wheels twice a week during the summer is the only downside. Remember, sometimes accidents are avoided by inches, and with OEM pads I can lock em up at 60 with no problem. If you track the car, ceramic might be the better option.

I like OEM stopping power too...so I put on TEXSTAR pads-since that was the OEM pads I took off with Zimmerman rotors and I feel I lost stopping power on my 330ci. Only have about 80 miles on them but I am a little dissappointed so far- maybe the Texstar state side compound is not the same? or is it the Zimmerman rotors? not sure and have not had them long enough to see if they make OEM brake dust and if braking improves.

I put EBC pads with Brembo rotors on my wifes 323i and felt no difference from OEM stopping power.

Not sure yet, but hoping I did not make a mistake with what I thought were OEM Texstar pads with better than OEM rotors?

Also a big fan of Pagid (OEM type) pads, they bite like Godzilla whether cold, hot, or whatever, giving me total confidence in them, which overrides their only downside, which is that they dust more than average.

__________________

The road goes ever onward....
(R.I.P. Jever)

*Please support the Disabled American Veterans*

When faced with choosing between two evils, always go with the one you`ve never tried before....

I like OEM stopping power too...so I put on TEXSTAR pads-since that was the OEM pads I took off with Zimmerman rotors and I feel I lost stopping power on my 330ci. Only have about 80 miles on them but I am a little dissappointed so far- maybe the Texstar state side compound is not the same? or is it the Zimmerman rotors? not sure and have not had them long enough to see if they make OEM brake dust and if braking improves.

I put EBC pads with Brembo rotors on my wifes 323i and felt no difference from OEM stopping power.

Not sure yet, but hoping I did not make a mistake with what I thought were OEM Texstar pads with better than OEM rotors?

Sometimes it takes a while for the thin film of braking material to be deposited onto the rotor that's needed for maximum stopping power. Give it about another 200 miles and you should be fine. Find a safe spot and heat um up a little!!

Also a big fan of Pagid (OEM type) pads, they bite like Godzilla whether cold, hot, or whatever, giving me total confidence in them, which overrides their only downside, which is that they dust more than average.

But do they dust more, less, or equal to OEM?

And which Pagids? Red, blue?

I, too am searching for the holy grail: Pads with good initial cold bite yet less dust than OEM.

I, too am searching for the holy grail: Pads with good initial cold bite yet less dust than OEM.

Pagid *IS* OEM (BMW sources their pads from several suppliers). I`ve never tried the Reds myself, but have heard that they`re not too different from the regular pads. It`s a fairly personal thing, kinda like having a favorite pair of shoes....they`re good for *you*, but maybe not everybody else....

__________________

The road goes ever onward....
(R.I.P. Jever)

*Please support the Disabled American Veterans*

When faced with choosing between two evils, always go with the one you`ve never tried before....

I think the discs run at about 60 each. You can get them for cheaper at RockAuto.com, but their shipping costs are high, so it works out to be the same. The pads are about 40 bucks. The best thing to do is to combine other auto parts you need and order from rockauto. Else you can search on amazon.com. If you need the part numbers, let me know. I can look them up for you

I think the discs run at about 60 each. You can get them for cheaper at RockAuto.com, but their shipping costs are high, so it works out to be the same. The pads are about 40 bucks. The best thing to do is to combine other auto parts you need and order from rockauto. Else you can search on amazon.com. If you need the part numbers, let me know. I can look them up for you

That`s a very competitive price. Do you know if those rotors come with an anti-corrosive coating ? Rusty rotor hats are nasty-looking....while it *is* possible to spray them with VHT paint, it`s a lot easier to just mount some coated ones.

__________________

The road goes ever onward....
(R.I.P. Jever)

*Please support the Disabled American Veterans*

When faced with choosing between two evils, always go with the one you`ve never tried before....

So now more questions. Where are the brake sensors? is it only 1 front and 1 back? do I really need them?

Story: the reason I started looking into the brakes is because a few days ago, I stopped at the stop like, and suddenly see the /!\ and (O) warning lights, once. I turned off the engine, then turn it back on, they went away. Plus my baby is @ 40k miles, figure it might be time. Am I wrong? preventive, or wait till the light actually light up then install?

So now more questions. Where are the brake sensors? is it only 1 front and 1 back? do I really need them?

Story: the reason I started looking into the brakes is because a few days ago, I stopped at the stop like, and suddenly see the /!\ and (O) warning lights, once. I turned off the engine, then turn it back on, they went away. Plus my baby is @ 40k miles, figure it might be time. Am I wrong? preventive, or wait till the light actually light up then install?

Yes, there are 2 sensors (1 front, 1 rear), and they only need replacing if they have been tripped.

Look in the owner`s manual to see what all the various dashboard icons mean.

__________________

The road goes ever onward....
(R.I.P. Jever)

*Please support the Disabled American Veterans*

When faced with choosing between two evils, always go with the one you`ve never tried before....

I've loved these so far. I've used them for a year now and they stop great in the cold and they go further when pushed to the limit vs OEM. I can get my rotors glowing red hot (literally) when the sun is down and the car still stops without any feelings of fade. Braking does sound louder when the rotors are that hot though but OEM could never accept that high heat abuse. I guess it's not an issue if you don't track. One thing you will miss is that initial snot launching bite at the start. If you really need to stop like that, then hit the brakes hard and go into ABS immediately. Being a driver who likes a linear feel, OEM pads are really too grabby at the start so it makes it harder to modulate smoothness. It's like reverse turbo lag for braking! LOL.